Wishing
by EbonyShroud
Summary: Just because you make a wish doesn't mean it will come true in the way you planned...


Jareth smiled to himself as he lounged in his throne and awaited the arrival of another foolish girl trying to reach his castle. His brilliant plan of getting the stupid humans to start wishing away people again had worked better than expected. His plan was a painfully simple one; all he did was manipulate a few people's dreams to give them the idea of a movie featuring his labyrinth and a story of a girl actually succeeding at the task and it went from there. After the movie came out and gained attention, the humans began wishing away people again. However, it went from merely young children being wished away to all ages being banished and sent to him; children, parents, teachers, helpers, and anyone else being annoying to the wisher. Sometimes the wisher wouldn't even care, leaving the terrified soul for Jareth to play with and torment for the rest of its life. Even girls were wishing themselves away to Jareth under the presumption that he fit into their fantasies as a handsome faerie king pining for her everlasting love, although they soon regretted it after a few hours trapped there and begged for a chance to win their freedom before their obligatory thirteen hours ended. As a benevolent Goblin King, he let the girls try in hopes of being entertained by their struggles. Some tried to follow the path of the protagonist of the film, not knowing that the Labyrinth was far more threatening than that movie had portrayed and many, many more perils awaited them than an oubliette, a cleaner, and the Bog of Eternal Stench. Others gave up half-way through and simply started venting or bawling or calling out rather crude names. Those that managed to make it to the Goblin City and his castle, however, were the most entertaining of them all. Their reactions to their losses were far more priceless than their expressions when their fantasies are broken.

He was distracted from his thoughts when the doors to the main throne room were pushed wide open. A girl walked in, trying hard to stand strong as she entered despite the exhaustion in her eyes. She stood in front of the throne, still wielding a small pitchfork she had stolen from one of his goblins to defend herself. Not that it made her at all intimidating or dangerous. The girl was a sobbing wreck just like the other girls that had come before her; her face was blotchy from crying and covered in a mixture of mud and blood. Not many girls managed to get through the labyrinth while still looking relatively the same. In fact, he can count the number on a single hand. Most had to crawl through many holes, mud pits, and all sorts of grimy dirty places in hopes of getting to the city within thirteen hours. Any fool who took their time to try and avoid getting muddy and injured tended to waste their time in places that could easily be solved by going in feet-first and would be dragged back feet-first to the castle when their time ran out. Jareth smiled at the girl; a predatory I-am-going-to-win smile that made the girl shiver.

"Welcome to..." Jareth started to say before she quickly shook her head and opened her mouth.

"Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered, I have fought my way here to the castle beyond the Goblin City to take back what you have stolen. For my will is as strong as yours and my kingdom as great. You have no power over me," the girl sputtered quickly, reciting the droll phrase from the movie in hopes that those words were all it would take to defeat him. He sighed quietly, knowing what would happen next. A faint glimmer of hope flickered in her eyes and a faint grin stretching across her face.

"Ah, but there is just one problem with that," he said merrily, "You wished yourself away. Your will is bent to serve my will and your kingdom a faint memory. I have ultimate power over you,"

The girl stared slack-jawed at him, all her hope and resolve destroyed in a single instant. The goblins circled around the throne room giggling, knowing that she was running out of time.

"But…no, you said I could gain my freedom if…" she mumbled, her words slurring as she tried finding something that she could use against Jareth.

"Yes, yes, but I lied. If I had truly stolen something, say a baby, that pretty monologue of yours would have worked. Alas, you gave it up yourself," Jareth replied. A few tears escaped the girl as she went from shocked to angry. She charged at Jareth, wielding the pitchfork as it if were a knife. A sitting goblin reached out with its pitchfork and tripped her, knocking her down onto the floor. She swiped at it with the pitchfork and it yelped as it got slashed. She staggered to her feet and prepared another charge when a loud bell rang. The girl faltered, confused and horrified at the sound.

"Oh dear, that was the thirteenth chime. Your thirteen hours are up. You lost, girl," Jareth said, a wide smirk spreading across his face. The girl looked about ready to cry as she looked around, hoping to find a clock saying that she had more time. However, the only clock there was resting on the thirteen, affirming her loss.

"I wanna go home. I'm sorry, I swear I won't do it again…" she pleaded, now desperate. Jareth laughed.

"And you will be sent home. Your new home with the fireys," Jareth said. The girl's eyes widened as she dropped her pitchfork in terror. She turned and ran for the entrance only to stagger and stop. The girl tuned back and howled as her hair started falling out in clumps of thick tangled knots. Her nails twisted and became thin claws. Her bones cracked as her arms and legs broke away from their sockets and joints began popping. She fell in a disjointed mess on the floor, her arms and legs pointing out at unnatural angles. Her breathing stopped momentarily as the neck broke away as well, separating the body from the head. All the parts of the girl's body morphed as it ate itself, stripping her of her formerly plump frame and turning her into a thin skeleton. Sockets reformed to allow it to detach at will and orange-yellow tufts of hair erupted all over the body. As the transformation finished, the firey took its first pained gasps of air. It opened its dark, curious eyes and looked up at him, shivering as the transformation slowed to a halt.

"Stand," Jareth commanded. The firey obliged, reattaching its head onto its thin neck as it stood up. It was unsteady on its newly reformed legs, unsure of how to keep itself from falling apart at the joints. A half-mad grin erupted on its face

"You will go to your new home and join the fireys. They will teach you anything you need to know," Jareth said. The firey nodded and left, careful to collect any body parts that somehow got loose on its journey out of the room. An elder goblin followed it, knowing Jareth would flay him if it ended up someplace where it would cause trouble. Jareth sighed as he slumped back down in his chair, as if turning the girl into a firey had wasted him of all his energy.

"Leave me be," Jareth hissed. All the goblins fled from the throne room, not wanting to risk the chance of getting kicked, thrown, or something worse. Once the room had been vacated and locked, he let out an annoyed sigh. The movie, while useful, did annoy him with the girls' fantasizing about him all the time. He always knew when people were thinking strong thoughts about him, thoughts like lust, hate, and adoration. It used to be only when they were planning to wish away a troublesome child. Now, hundreds of people would think and cause him such a headache. He learned to differentiate between people that could be tricked with an idea and those to blot out. Otherwise, he might have gone mad from the voices.

He felt a faint tremble at the back of his mind and tuned in to the new interruption, recognizing it as a mind he could manipulate. Strange noises echoed back and the faintest threads of thoughts reached him. He knew what the strange noises were; he was used to them and quickly learned what they were once he started hearing them. The quiet hum, the sound of fan blades turning, the sounds of clicks; it was a fan of that movie on that strange mechanical contraption called a computer. Most likely they were reading some silly story written about him or watching the movie yet again. Either way, he knew who it was and reached out to them saying,

"Why don't you wish yourself away? You'll be glad if you did…"


End file.
